WOW. This book SURPRISED ME Y'ALL!
A great secular historical fiction, multi-generation book. I found this on NetGalley and didn't end up reading it from there, so after it came out, I borrowed it from Kindle Unlimited and listened to the audiobook - which was FANTASTIC.
We start in early 1900s and end in the 1990s with the family we follow. We are in Sardinia, and at the heart of this book is family legacy, specifically a legacy passed down from mothers to daughters. Allegra and her daughters are the keepers of an ancient and sacred craft: the weave of byssus, a rare sea silk spun from mollusks into shimmering gold thread. So we see the way these threads tie generations together. We go through turmoil in WWII when the timeline shifts into heartbreak.
Zaneta's (Allegra's daughter) storyline was absolutely heartbreaking. We see her go through loss and then a tough encounter with a German deserter. Because of her experience....you empathize with her, even through her harshness with her daughter, Mira. The experience shapes her life and she is desperate to keep the tradition and family legacy alive with Mira. She starts teaching Mira about the weaving....but Mira isn't sure she wants to continue the legacy herself.....
This author really did a great job capturing the emotions of generational trauma. The relationships in each timeline were real...and layered. Even when you were angry as the reader....it was real. You sat with the characters in their grief and circumstances. You felt for them. You really THINK about their choices.
And even if you are not someone to real multi timeline or multi character stories, this author did great at naturally shifting us to each of the women's stories.
If you enjoy historical fiction with emotional depth and strong generational themes, this one is well worth your time. It does have some heavier content but it was a realistic view of what really happened in wartime and families. I learned so much.
OH AND THE ENDING TOOK ME OUT. That reveallll!
Content/Trigger Warnings: 1 curse word, sexual assault, multiple miscarriages, grief, loss of family in war, WWII details of war, antisemitism, death, murder, genocide, dementia, infertility
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Oy5AMt
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